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Baltimore-Washington Rail Intermodal Facility Health Impact Assessment

Project Funder: This project is supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts with funding from The Kresge Foundation.

Project Contact: Ruth Lindberg, rlindberg@nchh.org, 202-280-1983

Project Description: The purpose of the intermodal facility is to transfer containers between trucks and double-stacked trains in an effort to increase the amount of long-distance freight cargo moved on rail. The facility poses potential health concerns to neighboring communities that include air and noise pollution, as well as substantial increases in local truck traffic leading to safety risks. Its construction and operation may also benefit health by creating local jobs and generating community tax revenue that supports services essential to health.

In 2012, NCHH began comparing the impacts of the proposed Baltimore-Washington Rail Intermodal Facility at several potential sites in the Baltimore-Washington region. In the fall of 2012, decision-makers at state and local levels selected a new site location for the facility, the existing Mount Clare Yard in the City of Baltimore. NCHH has shifted the focus of the HIA to this new site location. NCHH is conducting the HIA distinct from, but in parallel with, state and local decision-making processes.

"Decisions about how goods are moved across the state and across the country are made every day,” said Rebecca Morley, Executive Director of NCHH. “Only in a few instances are those decisions looked at through the lens of public health. This project will enable NCHH to use its research expertise to help residents of Maryland understand the anticipated impact of the intermodal transfer facility on their health and provide input into the decision-making process."

The goal of this HIA is to use the findings and recommendations to improve both the consideration of health and the implementation of specific mitigation measures to protect health in the final project decisions.

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Sign up to Participate in a Focus Group about the Proposed Intermodal Facility!

Thank you for your interest in participating in a focus group about the proposed intermodal facility. These confidential small group discussions will help the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) get a variety of opinions from people living near the site location about how the project may affect health. At the focus groups, we will discuss issues such as traffic, air quality, noise, employment, and neighborhood resources.

We will be hosting two focus groups in the spring of 2013:

  • Monday, April 29, 2013 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Morrell Park Recreation Center in the Trailer below the school, 2601 Tolley Street, Baltimore, MD, 21230
  • Wednesday, May 15, 2013 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Morrell Park Recreation Center in the Trailer below the school, 2601 Tolley Street, Baltimore, MD, 21230

If you are a resident living near the Mount Clare Yard site and are interested in participating, please RSVP to Ruth Lindberg at rlindberg@nchh.org or call 410-992-0712 and indicate which evening you plan to attend. We will be offering light refreshments and a gift raffle.